1

Identifying Customer Needs

TEC 316

Dr. Lou Reifschneider

Much of this presentation came from the Professor Eppinger’s web site on Product Design and Development.

2

Concept Development Process

Perform Economic Analysis

Benchmark Competitive Products

Build and Test Models and Prototypes

IdentifyCustomer

Needs

EstablishTarget

Specifications

GenerateProduct

Concepts

SelectProduct

Concept(s)

Set Final

Specifications

PlanDownstreamDevelopment

MissionStatement Test

ProductConcept(s)

DevelopmentPlan

From Product Design and Development, page 61.

3

Identifying Customer Needs Process1. Define the Scope

– Mission Statement - what market are you targeting?2. Gather Raw Data

– Interviews - these most efficient– Focus Groups– Observation

3. Interpret Raw Data– Need Statements - WHAT, NOT HOW

4. Organize the Needs– Hierarchy - logical groupings, affinity diagrams

5. Establish Importance– Surveys (using needs from interviews)– Quantified Needs

6. Reflect on the Process– Continuous Improvement

4

1: Define scope – Mission Statement

Mission statement clearly spells out:

• The product description

• Key business goals

• Primary and secondary markets

• Important product assumptions

• Who the stakeholders are

5

Mission Statement - product planningExample: Screwdriver Project

Product Description•A hand-held, power-assisted device for installing threaded fasteners

Key Business Goals•Product introduced in 4th Q of 2000•50% gross margin•10% share of cordless screwdriver market by 2004

Primary Market•Do-it-yourself consumer

Secondary Markets•Casual consumer•Light-duty professional

Assumptions•Hand-held•Power assisted•Nickel-metal-hydride rechargeable battery technology

Stakeholders•User•Retailer•Sales force•Service center•Production•Legal department

From Product Design and Development, page 62.

6

Alternative products that could satisfy mission statement: each targets customer niche.

From Product Design and Development, page 59.

“Want Power”

NO Batteries! “Compact”

Standard

“Fits in Drawer”

7

2: Gather raw data, Sources:> Customer surveys> One-on-one interviews –

best done in environment of product use.> Focus groups> Observing products in use

Some key questions:

• How many customers?

• Who should they be? (lead users vs. casual users)

• Do they know what they want?

8

Question How Many Customers?

From: Griffin, Abbie and John R. Hauser. “The Voice of the Customer”, Marketing Science. vol. 12, no. 1, Winter 1993.

One-on-One Interviews (1 hour)

Focus Groups (2 hours)

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

0

20

40

60

80

100P

erce

nt

of

Nee

ds

Iden

tifi

ed

Number of Respondents or Groups

From Product Design and Development, page 64.

Most Efficient

LOOK AT INTERVIEW

FORM

9

3: Interpreting the raw data in terms of the customers’ needs

Guidelines for writing needs statements:• Express the need in terms of

– what the product has to do, – not in terms of how it might do it.

• Use positive, not negative, phrasing.• Express the need as an attribute of the product.• Avoid the words, must and should.

10

Five Guidelines for Writing Needs Statements

Guideline Customer Statement Need Statement-Wrong Need Statement-Right

What Not How

Specificity

Positive Not

Negative

Attribute of the

Product

Avoid “Must”

and “Should”

“Why don’t you put protective shields around the battery contacts?”

“I drop my screwdriver all the time.”

“It doesn’t matter if it’s raining, I still need to work outside on Saturdays.”

“I’d like to charge my battery from my cigarette lighter.”

“I hate it when I don’t know how much juice is left in the batteries of my cordless tools.”

The screwdriver battery contacts are covered by a plastic sliding door.

The screwdriver battery is protected from accidental shorting.

The screwdriver is rugged.

The screwdriver operates normally after repeated dropping.

The screwdriver is not disabled by the rain.

The screwdriver operates normally in the rain.

An automobile cigarette lighter adapter can charge the screwdriver battery.

The screwdriver battery can be charged from an automobile cigarette lighter.

The screwdriver should provide an indication of the energy level of the battery.

The screwdriver provides an indication of the energy level of the battery.

From Product Design and Development, page70.

11

Exa

mpl

e of

cus

tom

er in

terv

iew

for

mF

rom

Pro

duc

t D

esig

n an

d D

eve

lopm

ent,

pag

e 68

.

12

4: Organize the needs into a hierarchy

• Write each need statement on a separate card or post-it.

• Eliminate redundant statements.

• Group similar cards by needs.

• Label each group.

• Too many groups – create subgroups.

• Review and edit as needed.

This process is called ** see handout** creating an Affinity Diagram.

13

5: Establish the relative importance of the needs. (based on customer comments)

6: Reflect on the results, revise if needed.

14

Getting at Customer Needs• Capture “What, Not How”.• Meet customers in the use environment.• Collect visual, verbal, and textual data.• Props will stimulate customer responses.• Interviews are more efficient than focus groups.• Interview all stakeholders and lead users.• Develop an organized list of need statements.• Look for latent needs (something the product should do that is

not obvious from function).• Survey to quantify tradeoffs – like power or portable?

15

Visual Information Example: Book Bag Design

From Product Design and Development, WEB site.

16

Customer Needs Translation Exercise: Book bag

Customer Statement

a) “See how the leather on the bottom of the bag is all scratched; it’s ugly.”

b) “When I’m standing in line at the cashier trying to find my checkbook while balancing my bag on my knee, I feel like a stork.”

c) “This bag is my life; if I lose it I’m in big trouble.”

d) “There’s nothing worse than a banana that’s been squished by the edge of a textbook.”

e) “I never use both straps on my knapsack; I just sling it over one shoulder.”

Needs Statement

a)

b)

c)

d)

e)

From Product Design and Development, WEB site

17

Customer Statement

a) “See how the leather on the bottom of the bag is all scratched; it’s ugly.”

b) “When I’m standing in line at the cashier trying to find my checkbook while balancing my bag on my knee, I feel like a stork.”

c) “This bag is my life; if I lose it I’m in big trouble.”

d) “There’s nothing worse than a banana that’s been squished by the edge of a textbook.”

e) “I never use both straps on my knapsack; I just sling it over one shoulder.”

Needs Statement

a) Bag maintains original appearance with use.

b) Items easy to find stored in bag.

c) Bag is difficult to lose and easy to find.

d) Bag protects soft, fragile items from damage.

e) Bag can be secured in several modes: both shoulders or either single shoulder.

From Product Design and Development, WEB site

Customer Needs Translation Exercise: Book bag

18

Getting at Customer Needs: Summary

• Who is target market? (Retail vs. Contractor), etc.• Interview – about 8 potential customers (users)• Convert customer statements into

NEED statements.• Organize – via affinity diagram to see

common groups, note important needs. • Have manageable number of needs (<10)

– Customer needs become product requirements.– They are “magnetic north” during brainstorming.